The sun will shine again in Cove, but it might not feel that way to the Susquenita boys’ basketball team.

Coach Jeff Deitz’s first tour through a treacherous Mid-Penn Capital landscape littered with land mines left his Blackhawks 0-22.

With losses to two district playoff-bound Capital Division rivals and formerly-winless Waynesboro, Susquenita concluded its season.

Despite the lack of success in the form of wins, Deitz was proud of his squad’s effort,

“The only thing these kids don’t need is a heart. It starts at the top with my eight seniors. For them to do what they’ve done every night is commendable and amazing. I have so much respect for my basketball team, to be able to play the way they play despite the results. They fought 22 games.”

On Feb 7, visiting East Pennsboro delivered a 73-38 knockout on the strength of a 26-point second quarter. Kelvin White (21 points) and Alberto De Los Santos (19) did most of the damage.

Senior Max Flurie led the Blackhawks with a season-high nine points including a 3-ball. Sophomore Drew Knowles dropped in eight, and junior Nolan Hoover contributed seven, including his team-high 17th 3-pointer.

Freshman Jacob Nace connected on his first career field goal in the form a 3.

The following night, Middletown came calling and, despite a career night from senior Steve Lauver (12 points, including a 3), the Blue Raiders pillaged the Blackhawks 65-27.

Back-to-back 3s by Devon Risko (18 points) in the first 30 seconds set the tone for the night as the Raiders never trailed.

The Hawks, led by Flurie with a game-high seven points, outrebounded Middletown 29-23. Knowles garnered six boards and blocked three shots. Lauver, Zach Harvey, Josh Supko and Hoover each hauled in three caroms a piece. Hoover also scored four points to up his team-high total to 146.

Visiting Waynesboro notched its first win of the season 47-21 in Thursday night’s season finale.

Late in the first quarter Taylor Nace hit a runner in the lane to knot the score at 6, but it would be Susquenita’s high watermark, as the Indians scored the next 13 points and took a 19-6 halftime lead. Both teams scored 12 points in the third quarter, but Waynesboro locked down the win with a 16-3 fourth-quarter bolt.

“Waynesboro (losing three of its last five games by four points or less) is a better team than their record (1-21) indicates,” stated Deitz. “We knew they would come in and play hard, and we knew stopping Derek Null (19 points, six rebounds) was the key. Nineteen points (from one player) is going to win games.”

Larson Becker also was a force for the Indians near the basket, controlling six rebounds and rejecting three Hawk shots.

Taylor Nace finished with eight points to lead Susquenita. Knowles added four points, blocked three shots, and grabbed three rebounds to share team honors with Nace and Supko. Senior Jeraye Dennis recorded a team-high three steals.

Following the season finale, Deitz observed, “We have a lot to work on, and our underclassmen are aware of that. They want to make the commitment and win basketball games. They are willing to do whatever they need to do (from) here on out. And, it all starts with the hearts of the eight seniors who played their last game tonight.”